Be A Part I am not a big fan of crowds. I don’t like people invading my space. So, don’t ask me to go to Death Valley with a capacity of 81,500 or Williams Brice stadium of 77,559. I’ve been to the Masters golf tournament and loved it. But I am not going back. I… Read More »

Here We Go Again The only time I ever received an “F” was one six weeks in Junior English. I protested and told the teacher, “I have never gotten an “F” before.” She said I should have. I asked what I was to tell my parents. The tender-hearted lady replied, “That’s not my problem.” Earlier… Read More »

Shalom!  I don’t know if you have ever noticed this, however, in many cultures the same word used for a greeting is also used for a sending off. For instance, in Hawaiian Aloha is used for hello and goodbye. In Italian it is Ciao. In Greek it is Yiasou. In Hebrew that word is Shalom.… Read More »

Seeds It’s almost Springtime, so that means it’s almost planting season. In preparation some of you have been cleaning out your gardens, fertilizing the soil, and preparing it for an abundant yield. If you know anything about gardening you know that the more time you take to cultivate the soil – clearing out the rocks,… Read More »

So it Begins Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten journey. It is a time for self evaluation. “Have I been faithful? Have I served God and my neighbors with my whole heart, soul, and mind? Do I need to make changes in my life so that I am a better disciple?” These are… Read More »

Ash Wednesday “Sign us with ashes, merciful God, children of dust, as to dust we return. Sign us with ashes, merciful God. Mark us and make us your own.” These lyrics are the refrain from the hymn Sign Us with Ashes. An important part of our Lenten practice is to mark ourselves with ashes at… Read More »

Coffee with Calvin Coffee with Calvin is a book by Donald McKim in which he takes quotes from John Calvin and applies them to short devotionals. Donald has many books on Reformed Theology and the Presbyterian way. Some of you may recognize his name because he often writes for the daily devotional magazine These Days.… Read More »

Which Love? I recently read an article about a man who had a great idea of proposing to his girlfriend using hundreds of Sweetheart Valentine candies with “Marry Me” printed on the front. He soon discovered that “Marry Me” Sweethearts average about two per a bag! He thought it might break his bank account to… Read More »

 All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten In 1986, Robert Fulghum wrote the widely popular book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. The premise is just as the title implies. Fulghum says, “Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sand pile…”… Read More »

How About That Kindness? Rabbi Harold Kushner, who wrote Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People and When All You’ve Ever Wanted is Not Enough, once said, “When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world.” I have seen this first hand this week as you have reached… Read More »